From its start as Mobile Suit Gundam in the early 80s, Sunrise's giant robot anime series has exploded into unstoppable franchise featuring manga, games and toys. Come this fall, Gundam continues to evolve with its twelfth incarnation: Gundam AGE.

In A.G. 101 (the 101st year of the Advanced Generation calendar) a mysterious entity known only as "UE", or "unknown enemy", attacks and destroys the space colony Angel. This brutal attack becomes infamous as the "The Day the Angel Fell", and marks the beginning of humanity's war for survival. The series begins in A.G. 108 when the UE attack the space colony Ovan, where Flit Asuno lives with his mother. Flit's mother is killed by the UE, and in her belongings (in an object called a "AGE Device") he discovers the blueprints for a powerful weapon from the past--the ancient messiah named "Gundam."

From these blueprints, Flit spends the next several years studying engineering at an Earth Federation base on the Nora space colony and designing the AGE-1 Gundam AGE-1 Normal. Seven years later, in A.G. 115, Flit completes the Gundam AGE-1 Normal, just as the UE attack Nora. Flit and his lineage's battle piloting the AGE-1 to protect mankind is about to begin.

Story aside, the real thrill of a new Gundam series comes from the new mecha designs. Bandai Japan will be bringing collectors both model kits and action figures of Gundam AGE's new mechs starting in Japan this fall and hitting the U.S. this winter. The video below shows off the new kits.

The figure series (pictured top and bottom) will be part of Bandai's highly articulated and accessorized Robot Damashii line. Currently available for pre-order through BigBadToyStore.com, the series will launch with AGE-1 Gundam, AGE-1 Titus, AGE-1 Sparrow, Genoas and Garfan. These will retail for around $40 each.

What are your thoughts on Gundam's new look? I'm liking it. It stays true to the orginal designs without going overboard like Gundam 00, which was just a tad too spiky and flamboyant for my tastes.